Pakistan in quandary over Abu Dhabi series payment

Lahore, June 6 (UNI) The organisers of the just-concluded Abu Dhabi series are likely to give a lesser remuneration to the Pakistan cricket team compared to their Sri Lankan counterparts after media reports suggested they have incurred heavy losses due to the absence of stalwarts from both sides.

According to reports, the organisers had suffered a loss of 1.1 million dollar, mainly because both the countries had not sent their 'superstar' cricketers, thus making the series less attractive for the spectators as well as for the sponsors.

The series which the Lankans lost 2-1, missed the likes of Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan , Kumar Sangakkara, Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan, Danish Kaneria to name a few.

However, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman said they were getting less amount as both the countries had signed different financial packages with the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council (ADCC) for the series.

''Under the contract, Sri Lanka got a fixed amount of money, more than what Pakistan received. Whereas Pakistan signed the contract under which besides getting a consolidated amount (less than that of Sri Lanka) it also had the share in the profit,'' the spokesman told 'Dawn'.

Though the spokesman avoided disclosing the amount, sources in Abu Dhabi said the World Cup runners-up received 750,000 dollars, while Pakistan got only 500,000 dollars.

However, the spokesman denied having any knowledge about the organisers'' profit or loss.

UNI